UPDATE
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Katrina pummeled barrier islands
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Posted: 6:46 p.m. EDT (22:46 GMT)
GULFPORT, Mississippi (AP) -- Hurricane Katrina swamped barrier islands along the Gulf Coast, further gnawing away at the dunes and beaches that act as hurricane speed bumps and leaving the coastal area even more vulnerable to big storms.
Among the hardest-hit were the fragile Chandeleur Islands off the southeast coast of Louisiana. Known as a nesting ground for pelicans and rest stop for migrating songbirds, the string of islands was made famous by a visit from Theodore Roosevelt and from the naturalist paintings of Walter Anderson.
Even before Katrina, these islands in Breton Sound were under stress. The storm inundated them, leaving only a small section visible during fly-overs in recent days. It has been difficult to get a complete picture of damage to all the barrier islands, including Mississippi's, because boat and air traffic has been restricted by search and rescue efforts.
Barrier islands, which are made up of sand drifts, naturally shift with currents over time. But there has been a gradual loss of the islands over the past century, especially along the Louisiana coast. A hundred years ago many of the islands were twice the size they are today and even were home to villages and plantations.
<img src="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/images/smiles/source.jpg"> CNN
<img src="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/images/smiles/view.jpg" border="0"> <a href=http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.barrier.islands.ap/index.html target=_blank>complete article</a>
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